25. Workweek and Work Schedule

The designated workweek shall be from 8 a.m. on Friday to 7:59 a.m. the following Friday. All employees shall be informed of the designated workweek. All Judicial Branch full-time employees shall account for at least 40 hours of work or authorized leave time per week. Management sets each employee’s work schedule. The work week and work schedule of each employee shall be documented by each office.

Amended 7-9-15.

A. Overtime Compensation Eligibility

The Administrative Office shall determine, in compliance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements, the exempt or nonexempt status of all employees for overtime purposes. The status will be indicated on each job classification description.

(1) Exempt‑‑Employees exempt from overtime include those who meet the FLSA definitions of professional, administrative, computer professional, supervisory, or executive.

(2) Nonexempt‑‑All nonexempt employees must be compensated with compensatory time equal to one and one-half times the hours worked above 40 in a workweek, unless approved for overtime pay by the Administrative Office.

Amended 7-9-15.

B. Non-Exempt Overtime/Compensatory Time

Overtime in the Nebraska Court System shall be held to a minimum and must be avoided by use of flexing work hours within a workweek where possible. Only in times of emergency, such as hearings outside of business hours or juvenile probationer intake, or with prior approval of the supervisor should overtime be permitted.

Overtime is considered time in excess of the designated 40-hour workweek. Leave time (vacation, sick, etc., with the exception of holiday leave) shall not be considered as hours worked. Before any time can be considered as overtime, an employee must work, not just get paid for, 40 hours during the designated workweek. Time in excess of the 40-hour workweek may then be considered overtime.

Upon proper authorization, non-exempt employees may accumulate a maximum of 180 hours of compensatory time (120 hours of overtime worked). Accumulated compensatory time shall be used within 6 months. Cash must be paid at a time‑and‑one‑half rate for overtime beyond those limits. Whenever possible, a non-exempt employee's schedule should be altered within the workweek so that his or her work hours do not exceed 40. (For example, an employee working 2 extra hours on Monday may be directed to take 2 hours off on Tuesday.) When it is not possible to obtain prior approval for required overtime work and when that time cannot be compensated either through an adjusted workweek or with compensatory time, then a written request from the supervisor to the Administrative Office is required for payment of overtime.

It is the responsibility of the supervisor to monitor overtime for an employee. A record of all overtime shall be included on time sheets required by the Administrative Office. At times, a supervisor may direct an employee to expend some accumulated compensatory time. The employee, where possible, must be notified at least 24 hours in advance of the compensatory time to be taken.

Payment for accrued compensatory time upon termination of employment shall be calculated at the average regular rate of pay for the final 3 years of employment, or the final regular rate received by the employee, whichever is greater.

Amended 7-16-03; amended 7-9-15.

C. Travel Time

Travel time of non-exempt employees required to attend a meeting, conference, seminar, training course, etc., is considered compensable time. A non-exempt employee traveling for one day (not overnight) shall be paid for all travel time. This travel time is counted when computing hours worked for overtime purposes.